Friday, May 1, 2009

SOLEDAD LACSON-LOCSIN

SOLEDAD LACSON-LOCSIN

Ma. Soledad Lacson-Locsin "Soledad Lacson-Locsin of Talisay, Negros Occidental, received her education in both Spanish and English at the Assumption Convent, wrote in both languages for various publications, and did translations of books and other readings in both languages. She founded and was Directress of the Casanova School in Bacolod City. Arsenio Lacson, the former mayor of Manila, once a newspaperman, was her brother. Aurelio Locsin, her husband, was founder and editor of El Civismo, a Spanish language newspaper published in Negros, for which she also wrote. Her four sons, Aurelio, Jr.; Raul, editor and publisher of BusinessWorld; the journalist Alfio; and Gerry; have all been involved in writing and publishing.

"She was 86 when she accepted the invitation to translate the Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo into English, using the facsimile editions of the manuscripts as her copy texts. She passed away in 1995 after finishing both translations, and after asking her son Raul to edit and polish them, and to preserve in the English the cadence of the Spanish."

From the inside back cover of her translation of El Filibusterismo (Edited by Raul L. Locsin, Bookmark, 1996) purchased by CyberSkul at National Bookstore. Photo by Wig Tysmans.